After the death of Mao Zedong the Chinese economy took a big leap. By 2013 the country had already reached the second largest economic powerhouse on the planet, behind only the United States. Although still nominally Communist, as Mao Zedong idealized it after coming to power in 1949, China today has left behind the economic practices related to that system.
When he died, new policies emerged that believed that foreign trade should increase, in addition to encouraging exchanges of students and "foreign experts" with developed countries. This new economic policy was delineated at the Fifth National People's Congress in February and March 1978 when Hua Guofeng outlined an ambitious 10-year plan for the period 1976-85. The plan envisaged high growth rates in both industry and agriculture and included 120 construction projects that would require massive imports of foreign technology. Between 1976 and 1978, the economy quickly recovered from the stagnation of the Cultural Revolution. Agricultural production slowed in 1977 because of a third consecutive year of adverse weather conditions, but rebounded with a record harvest in 1978. Industrial production grew by 14 percent in 1977 and 13 percent in 1978.
